|
“A country which always holds the unexpected in
store, that rouses high hopes and seldom satisfies them, and yet
charms the bitterness out of disappointment.” This was written by
an Englishwoman named Elspeth Huxley and the country to which she
was referring was Kenya. The quote could refer to the Philippines
(with perhaps some modification to the “… charms the bitterness
out of disappointment!”)
Certainly the watchword is to
expect the unexpected around here (if you are a Westerner that is).
It is of course well known that casual questions to passers—by,
asking directions for example will probably fail to bring a
materially useful response. The response may sound useful but in all
likelihood will be inaccurate. It’s better to give an answer and
seem co-operative than to give no answer at all, which could be seen
as being unhelpful. What is probably less well known are some of the
banking practices. On the one hand to open a bank account is a
nightmare of procedure, form filling in, and it takes a long time to
get a new cheque book, in some cases takes up to 2 weeks—and yet
on the other hand a cheque can “clear” in a matter of minutes
and outside banking hours at that ! Now that is unexpected,
particularly given a three day clearing time. It would be unexpected
to most Westerners to have to pay a year’s rent plus a security
deposit, in advance for a house. It would be unexpected if the new
aircon unit broke down after 6 months to be told that the specific
internal part which had broken was not covered by the guarantee! As
for the unexpected when driving …! It would be unexpected around
here if the mail arrived in anything like a reasonable period of
time—on odd occasions it does! So in the Philippines (like Kenya)
expect the unexpected—things often just don’t work in the way in
which Westerners have been conditioned to them operating, and this
is discordant in an environment where people (appear to) speak
English, McDonald’s and Starbucks (even Lush and Marks and
Spencer) are all over the place and adverts say things like “ live
your dream, escape to the glorious South” (do they just copy the
words from American adverts do you think?). So superficially the
Philippines in general, and Metro Manila in particular appears to be
a lot like the developed Western world, but it isn’t …
It is a place that can “rouse
high hopes and seldom satisfies them.” I heard today from another
expatriate husband of a Filipina that he was planning to develop a
beach resort in the near future. Would he have thought to do that if
for example he had married a Chinese woman? (plenty of good beaches
in Hainan)—I very much doubt it. The Philippines is that sort of
place, it makes you think that you can do almost anything in the way
of a business venture, and it will be successful (sometimes of
course people are successful, often-times they are not). “Filipino
dreams” much held and much discussed are just that, dreams. Of
course everybody has their own dreams and secret wishes but around
here there is perhaps more reliance put on them than in other
places, and these things can be infectious in the right
circumstances.
Does the Philippines “charm the
bitterness out of disappointment?” Depends if you can afford to be
disappointed I guess. If you can afford it and then try again, yes
the Philippines has a certain capacity for charming the bitterness
out of disappointment. Often though people can’t afford to try
again, or they harbour such resentment over the unexpected things
that happened in their venture that the bitterness can’t be easily
charmed away.
The economy has improved, yippee!
I have yet to find anything that has actually reduced in price
following the recent strengthening of the Peso. It seems to me that
prices around here just continue on a fast upward spiral no matter
what happens at the macro level. The cost of living is rising faster
and faster. No doubt the macro economy is getting in better shape
(foreign loans can be paid off more easily) but what about the
benefits of this to ordinary people? Will the Philippines be able to
charm the bitterness out of these continuing consumer
disappointments when the macro economic effects take so long to
bring benefits (if they ever do?)
Mike can be contacted at
mawootton@gmail.com.
|
